Gas Stations

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Winn-Dixie president, chairman and CEO Peter Lynch expressed confidence in the grocer as it heads into its fourth quarter, maintaining that the grocer's estimated adjusted EBITDA will come in at the lower end of the $100 million to $130 million range for fiscal 2011, a 52-week period ending June 29, in light of relatively flat third-quarter results.

Ra-anana, Israel -- Retalix announced Tuesday that PetroChina has completed a rollout of its StorePoint POS and StorePoint Fuel solutions to more than 16,000 convenience store and fuel locations across China.

The Retalix software rollout was part of a larger IT hardware and software upgrade for PetroChina, helping the retailer introduce greater automation and control over its store-level and enterprise-level operations.

One of the more interesting developments in the retail industry is set to unfold in a series of small towns along the Western edge of Arkansas where Walmart is set open the first of its experimental small formats.

Washington, D.C. -- Retail sales rose 0.5% in April after a 0.9% increase in March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. It was the tenth straight increase and came as consumers spent more on gasoline, clothing and autos in April.

Much of the gain in April, however, came from a surge in gasoline and food prices. Excluding a 2.7% jump in gasoline sales, the increase was a much smaller 0.2%.

Grocery stores sales jumped 1.5% -- triple the March increase. That partly reflected higher food prices.

New York City -- CBX, the strategic branding and retail design consultancy, announced that its Retail Division has been retained by Cadena Comercial OXXO, North America’s largest operator of convenience stores, to assist with an expansion of its foodservice offer.

NEW YORK — Customers shopped at Costco and BJ’s more often in April as they looked to save money on food and gas, according to results the company’s reported Thursday. Both companies generated same-store sales growth that exceeded analysts’ estimates due in part to an ability to pass through food price inflation to customers.

The most recent pricing survey from the equity research team at Credit Suisse shows that Walmart is either 3.1% cheaper than Target or 1.9% more expensive. The firm compared prices at stores in the Dallas and Chicago markets, as it does every month, and during March discovered the gap between the two competitors narrowed considerably.

“Target’s price gap with Walmart tightened from 4.2% in February to 3.1%,” according to the firm. “Target’s basket price decreased sequentially by 0.8% compared with Walmart’s 0.3% increase.”

Lubbock, Texas -- United Supermarkets officially entered the convenience market on Wednesday with the opening of its first United Express location, in Lubbock, Texas. It is the company’s first standalone convenience store.

The location includes a six-pump fuel station and will feature fresh offerings along with the traditional items guests would expect to find at a convenience store.

LOS ANGELES -- Ralphs announced that it is continuing its partnership begun last year with Shell to offer participating customers more rewards at the pump. According to the company, Southern Calif.-area customers will now earn double points on qualifying purchases at Ralphs when they buy fuel at participating Shell locations.    

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Net sales and net income for Ingles Markets realized a 4% and 38% increase, respectively, during the second quarter ended March 26, the retailer announced Friday.

Ingles reported that second-quarter net sales rose $33.4 million to $870.4 million, while second-quarter net income increased from $5.6 million to $7.7 million.